Lakeside Cougars - The Complete Trilogy, page 49
“It was,” Colleen agreed, now looking to Edith. “What do you want to do? I’d be very happy if you moved in with me and Atticus.”
“Really?” She looked around. “Are you sure? Is this place big enough?”
“Edith, come on, now. Of course it is. You’d be sleeping in our bed, and there’s two other rooms, and the basement, and that isn’t counting my office.”
“I’m going to need an office…” Atticus murmured.
“I figured you’d take the reading room upstairs,” Colleen replied. “I more or less don’t use it anymore. I thought it would be romantic to have a reading room, but it apparently isn’t. To me at least. I feel like I’ve failed as a romance novelist.”
He laughed. “I don’t think you’ve done that. And I’d be happy with that.” He looked back to Edith and raised his eyebrows.
She considered it for a moment, then slowly began nodding. “Yes. I want to move here. I’m tired of my house. And I don’t use most of it anyway. And...actually, this makes a ton of sense. I always had this sense like my house was never mine, you know? That’s why I was selling off the furniture. I wanted to make it more mine, but...it just never seemed to happen. It never really felt possible. It still doesn’t. I think it isn’t going to. I think I just need to let it go and try again here.” She looked around. “I’ll need somewhere to paint, though. Although honestly your back deck will be perfect for that most of the time. But I guess I can paint elsewhere when it gets cold.”
“We’ll get it sorted, I promise. I want you to keep painting,” Colleen said with a smile.
“I appreciate it,” Edith murmured, shifting in her seat and looking back to Atticus. “So yes, I’m good with that. Selling my house will be a pain in the fucking ass, though.”
“Wait!” Kate said, sitting up abruptly. “Two things. First thing, about the pain in the ass…” She looked to Atticus. “I am, um, not feeling up to the anal today.”
“That’s fine. I do not mind waiting for that ass,” he replied.
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Thank you, boyfriend. For real. Anyway, second thing, Edith! What if you kept your house and you and I worked out a deal and I could turn it into a rental!? Although you said you’ve sold your furniture?”
“I did, but honestly, it’s old and ugly and heavy anyway. I think I’d like to work with you on this, though. If only so that I won’t have to go through the nightmare of trying to sell the fucking thing. And I know an interior decorator in Westfield, I can pay her and put her on the job to modernize it. I was going to anyway. Really, the biggest thing I want to take away from this is that I don’t have to deal with the headache of managing it.”
“Give me the keys and sign a legal document and you probably won’t have to deal with something more than once a year. I can handle a lot,” Kate replied.
“Great!”
“Okay, so, we’ve got that sorted.” Time for one of the potentially hard questions. “Um...how do we feel about the possibility of Susan moving in?” Atticus asked.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Colleen pursed her lips and put a finger to her chin, staring at him and Susan.
They all waited.
“I think we could manage it, yes. And I kind of like the idea of having a busy household. So you want to live here, Susan?”
“Dear God, yes. I...my life fell apart and I never managed to put it back together. Um...I guess it’s just cards on the table time, although Edith and Atticus already know this: I live with my parents, I work two jobs I hate, and I’m in a lot of credit card debt that my loser ex saddled me with,” she said.
“How much, exactly?” Colleen asked.
Susan looked uncertain, then sighed. “Almost twenty thousand dollars, still.”
“Oh, we can handle that,” Colleen replied, relaxing.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I can just pay it for you. Trust me, I can handle twenty grand.”
“I can’t possibly ask you to do that!” Susan cried.
“You didn’t,” Colleen replied calmly. “I offered.”
Susan opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She looked at Colleen, then Edith, finally to Atticus. She looked to him beseechingly, almost desperately, for help.
“Susan...if you’re going to throw in with us, you’re going to have to let us take care of you. You’re going to have to trust us. Open up, you know?”
She looked resistant still, and held that look for almost five seconds, then her expression seemed to collapse, her face smoothing back out. She sighed softly. “I guess I am, huh? I’m so goddamned ashamed of it, though.”
“I understand that, but we aren’t judging you,” Atticus replied. He kissed her forehead and took her hand. It admittedly felt weird to comfort a woman fifteen years older than he was, but at the same time, in some ways, Susan really felt about his own age. “I know you can’t just flip a switch and feel better, but a good start is believing that you’re safe here, with us.”
She nodded. “I do, honestly. It’s weird, like this soon I mean, but I do.”
“Good.” He gave her a small hug and adjusted himself a little. “So, two more things. At least as far as I can think of. Um, next thing: Colleen and I...are in love.”
The only one who looked surprised was Kate. “Wow, that was fast,” she murmured.
“Thanks,” Colleen replied.
Kate’s eyes immediately went wide and she blushed. “I’m sorry.”
Colleen smiled gently. “I wasn’t really mad, Kate. You, I believe, are going to have to get used to me and Edith. It’s going to be...kind of weird, I think, but if this is really going to work, you need to see yourself as an equal to myself and Edith and Susan.”
“That’s gonna be tough,” Kate said. “But you have a fair point. I will try.”
“Thank you.”
“Also, congrats you two. To be clear, I am happy. I figured it’d happen, I just thought it would be a bit. But yeah, I mean, I’ve seen it happen, and you two clearly have chemistry.”
“Also thank you,” Colleen replied.
“We’re all going to fall in love,” Atticus said. They looked at him. “I mean…” He sighed. “Okay, all of you are probably going to fall in love with me, and me with you. That’s just how a serious, long-term relationship works.”
“That’s a fair point, and I’m...probably well on my way there already,” Edith murmured, blushing.
“You little slut,” Colleen whispered.
“Oh, shut up!” Edith snapped. “This is weird and embarrassing enough as it is. You’re lucky I’m not losing my shit, talking about falling in love with a fucking twenty five year old boy who is also fucking and in love with my best friend and two other girls. This is-I’m doing well, okay?”
Colleen patted her ankle. “Yes, you are, sweetheart. Truly.”
Edith sighed heavily but otherwise seemed placated.
“So...we good with this love thing?” Atticus asked, making all of them laugh.
“Yes, Atticus, what’s the last thing?” Colleen asked.
“Vetra.”
“Ooh,” Colleen murmured, sitting forward. “What about Vetra?”
“Oh God, are you kidding me? I have to compete with her, too!?” Susan groaned.
“No, you don’t have to compete with her. She’s not taking anything from you, Susan,” Atticus replied. “But...I asked her to have sex with me.”
Kate burst out laughing. “You did what!?”
“I mean, okay! Wait!” Atticus cried as Colleen and Edith began laughing as well and Susan looked at him with something like awe. He groaned. “I mean I asked her on a date! And she asked me if I intended to fuck her! And I admitted the truth!”
“Okay, that sounds much more plausible,” Kate said after her laughter had subsided. “And? What’d she say?”
“A few things. Mostly: she wants me to take her on a date and, provided the date goes well, she is comfortable having sex with me. However, she wants blood test proofs from everyone in this room that we’re all free of any STIs. For obvious reasons. And we’ve had those previous tests, but this is her...price of admission.”
“To her vagina,” Colleen murmured and Kate laughed loudly.
“And her mouth, presumably,” Edith added.
Atticus groaned. “Yes! So...how do we feel about all this?”
“I’m okay with getting another one,” Colleen replied with a shrug. “And with you sleeping with and dating Vetra...although we probably shouldn’t try to fit anyone else into this. And I don’t think she’ll want to live with us. But I’m fine with you going all the way with Vetra like you are with us.”
“I am too, although we’re really going to have to coordinate. Keep like an open source digital calendar or something...but I’m cool with all of it and I can help us get the tests. Honestly, I should be able to get us a room and just draw the blood myself tomorrow morning before you guys leave. It’ll be about an hour of work altogether with the driving, but it should be easy,” Edith said.
“Yeah I’m good with all this, although I’ll have to do the blood test thing later. I’ve got something to do tomorrow,” Kate replied.
“I can work with you on it,” Edith said.
“Sweet. Honestly, if you can do it tomorrow evening, I can do that.”
“Should be fine.”
Atticus looked to Susan. “I’m fine with all that, yeah,” she replied. “Um...what kind of timeline are we looking at here? For the moving, I mean…”
“Well, Atticus and I have decided we’re going to go back to his hometown tomorrow to wrap up his affairs and move him up here. Probably won’t take more than a few days,” Colleen replied. “After that? I mean, we’ll need to coordinate, I’ll want to give the house a real good cleaning, maybe sort through my shit, get rid of some of it. I should have done that when I moved in, but I was too emotionally and mentally exhausted. But I think we could start the moving process within the next week, certainly the next two, if that’s what you want.”
“That’s what I want,” Susan replied immediately.
“Excellent. I have a question of my own,” Colleen said. “Susan, are you bisexual, and if so, are you interested in having a threesome with me and Atticus?”
“I...oh. Um. Wow. Um...I need more time for that question, but it’s definitely not a no,” she said, blushing worse than ever now.
“Excellent! Take your time. Edith and I are bisexual and we never got a chance to explore and now we are! And you can join us if you want, or not, or move at your own pace.”
“Oh. I, um…” She looked at Edith. “Okay. I’ll let you know. Do you want to, um...with me?”
“Yes,” Edith replied, her blush matching Susan’s now. “But that aside, I have one big, huge, important issue that we need to talk about regarding Susan.”
“Oh...right,” Susan murmured awkwardly.
“Oh dear, what is it?” Colleen asked.
“Yeah…?” Atticus asked uncertainly, looking to her now.
Susan looked vaguely embarrassed now, although also...horny? All of a sudden? Interesting.
“Okay. So.” She cleared her throat. “So, here’s the thing: I’m a little baby crazy. Or a lot. I’ve been on the fence about having a child for basically my entire life. But I had a pregnancy scare near the end of my last relationship and that made me realize...I wasn’t scared of having a child, I was scared of having a child with the wrong person. And obviously my clock is running out, and Atticus feels like the right person…”
She trailed off, looking around uncertainly at everyone, who was staring intently at her now. Well, they were staring at her and Atticus.
Susan slowly turned to look at him, too. “This feels insane to talk about. Like, fuck, we just met! But...I mean, I like you? A lot? And you guys are all asking me if I want to date Atticus, and move in with him, and you, and be, like, really serious together. Which I want! But, I don’t know, it’s just-there’s a time limit. I mean I can probably hold off for a couple more years, but at this point, every year I don’t get pregnant and give birth is more risk that something will go wrong during the pregnancy...am I just being insane?”
“No,” Atticus said, trying to get a bearing on the conversation again. “I’m sorry. No. You aren’t being insane. What you’re saying is all logical and it all tracks so far...I think. I’m just, um, struggling. Because I was not ready to talk about this. Not that I’m saying I won’t talk about it, or even that I’m against it, just…”
“It’s a lot,” Colleen said.
“And we don’t have to figure it out like right now,” Susan said, “but...we should figure it out. I mean, if the answer is no, I will accept that. I know that, realistically speaking, if I do this, I’m asking everyone in this room to help assume some responsibility.” She paused, looked at Kate. “Well, I…”
“Yeah, I’m a part of this now, I can babysit,” Kate said.
“How does Atticus feel about this?” Edith asked. “Because it isn’t happening without him.”
“Yes. Um...I’m really sorry to just dump this in your lap,” Susan murmured.
“Again, it’s fine. You’re right: we do need to talk about it and there is a timeline we’re working against. I guess we should probably find out first if anyone is just an outright no to this idea of me, um, impregnating Susan and raising a child with her,” he said.
“You mean breeding her?” Colleen murmured with a sly smile.
He sighed but he felt Susan shift in his lap and, though he didn’t think it was possible, her blush somehow got even more intense.
“Ooh, she likes breeding,” Colleen added, her smile growing a bit bigger.
“I...do,” Susan replied, not quite meeting her eyes.
“We would need to discuss specifics, but in a broad sense, I’m very fine with this. I’ve already said I don’t mind being a cool aunt and at this point in my life...I kind of want a full household. And if that includes a baby that I need to help raise, I’m fine with that. We have room, we certainly have the resources for it.”
“Oh God, I’m going to be so dependent on you for things,” Susan groaned. “Because I can’t work and raise a kid.”
“You are not going to work a shit job while you’re living in this house,” Colleen said.
“But then I won’t have any of my own money.”
Colleen opened her mouth, then paused uncertainly. “That is an issue we’ll have to sort out, but I am an actual millionaire. I mean, not like a crazy rich millionaire, but between me and Edith and Atticus, we are good, Susan. Seriously. I own this house, so no mortgage or rent, and I can easily handle all the bills fine.”
“So...what, I’d just live off your money? Ask you for it every single time I want something?” Susan asked.
“We would need to work something out, it wouldn’t be quite like that, but, okay, put it this way, Susan: if you want to quit your jobs, and live off of my money or, I’m assuming, Atticus’s,” she paused and looked at him.
“I’m totally fine with this,” he said.
“I thought so, but it’s important to check with these things. But if you want that, it’s on the table, is what I’m saying. If you want to be fully independent and keep working your jobs, or go get another job because you want to earn money for yourself, that’s completely fine. But you don’t have to, is the point.”
Susan stared at her for a bit in silence, a gaze of almost lunar levels of dumbstruck. “My own parents didn’t offer that,” she said finally. “And they could have...not that I’m ungrateful to what they’ve done for me. Not even that I asked.”
Colleen shrugged. “Things change when you become rich. Things change more when you stay rich for twenty five years. And you learn things about yourself. Something I learned about myself is that I am not a miser. Whatever causes people to hoard wealth, I don’t have it. Or it’s at least very weak in me. If I had been more serious about money, I’d probably be sitting on fifteen million right now. But I chose to value people and experiences over numbers on a screen or paper in my purse.” She pulled a face suddenly.
“I sound like such a fucking bitch, like I think everyone else is materialistic for pursuing money. To be clear, I’m not judging people who work their asses off and pursue wealth. I do judge people who have more money than they’ll ever fucking need and they just sit on it and do nothing with it or use it only for themselves while trying their damnedest to drain more from society. I’m just saying...I have more than enough. And I can get more, and will continue to get more. Don’t worry Susan, you aren’t going to bankrupt me.”
“It still feels so weird. I mean, I guess I should say now: I will absolutely take this deal. I’m just going to struggle with it for a bit, I think,” Susan replied. She looked to Edith. “So how about you? How, uh, weird would it be if your boyfriend knocked me up?”
Edith was pursing her lips. “I’ll admit, it would take some getting used to, but I can’t say that I’m against it. I know how much you want a child, Susan, and you should have that. You would be such a good mother. Your child will be so loved. And Atticus is a fantastic choice to breed you.”
“Oh my God, Edith,” Susan whispered and Kate giggled.
“I mean that would be what he’s doing, and I know you’re into that. However, I think Atticus would actually be an excellent father.”
“Same,” Colleen said immediately.
“Probably, yeah,” Kate agreed, “but you’d know more than I would.”
“Don’t look so ‘deer in the headlights’, Atticus,” Edith said, smiling just as slyly as Colleen now, “you’ll be a fine father. You’re patient, kind, responsible, patient, hardworking.”
“You said patient twice,” he replied.
“Dear fucking lord, that’s because you need patience. Believe me.”
“Fair.” He looked around for a moment, then sighed. “I...need more time. I’m saying maybe for right now.”
